Take The Pain?

[Freddie]

OK so this may have been done to death, but I used the search bar with a few different keywords and couldn't find anything - 
So

What are peoples experience with anaesthetic creams? I've just been offered it for a tattoo that will cover most of one pectoral and some ribs, but I turned it down.
Why? For the experience of what getting a tattoo really feels like as it will be my first.
But other than that is there any drawbacks from using numbing creams? And have I made what will be an unbearably painful mistake?

Look forward to your thoughts :D

[Alicia]

I don't know how true this is (would be interested in people's opinions) but I was told by my tattoo artist that numbing creams make you tap out a lot quicker as you haven't been mentally able to get used to the pain getting gradually worse so when it hits you (when the cream wears off; generally after a couple of hours I believe) it hits you like a tonne of bricks and the pain seems a lot stronger. 

I had my first session of a medium/big shoulder piece a couple of weeks ago (going back next week to have it finished) and managed to last 4 hours. He reckoned I'd have had to knock it on the head as soon as the cream had worn off if I'd used it but he might have just been saying that to make me feel better haha as I was embarrassed at having to make him stop and got a bit tearful 

[Dan]

2 hours ago, Freddie said:

OK so this may have been done to death, but I used the search bar with a few different keywords and couldn't find anything - 
So

What are peoples experience with anaesthetic creams? I've just been offered it for a tattoo that will cover most of one pectoral and some ribs, but I turned it down.
Why? For the experience of what getting a tattoo really feels like as it will be my first.
But other than that is there any drawbacks from using numbing creams? And have I made what will be an unbearably painful mistake?

Look forward to your thoughts :D

forget the numbing cream ,get the tattoo,

you already said it,especially being your first one,feel the pain,embrace it,earn it.

make sure you follow a good pre-tattoo preparation. 

--------------------------------------------------------

here is what I do.

sleep good and don't drink alcohol the night before (or the day of),

pre-hydrate the day before and day of and while being tattooed,(water or Gatorade) 

eat a good non greasy healthy meal right before getting tattooed,

bring candy (I bring M&M's and Skittles) to eat during the tattoo(the sugar will keep you from passing out),I also bring a banana,beef jerky, and a few cold bottles of water in a little ice chest(no artist has ever minded me doing this,as a matter of fact they have liked it). 

keeping up body sugars,potassium,and electrolytes will help to keep you feeling good throughout the process  , 

get yourself mentally in a good place.in the days leading up to and during the tattoo.

ask for a few 5 min breaks to stand up ,stretch,and get the kinks out.

turn the ringer on your phone off

this all helps me have a better overall tattoo experience,and the artist will appreciate it too

Edited April 26, 2017 by Dan

[Freddie]

This is great advice thanks Dan!

[Rikhall]

Yeah don't use cream i used it once and felt like I'd let myself down after, tattoos hurt end of 

dont be afraid to take breaks, but keep them short quick toilet break and a drink of water, 

also talk to the artist during I find that really helps

and yeah eat right nothing that will give you gas nothing worse than holding in a fart or a burp when your in agony  

[Synesthesia]

I've only had one experience with a lidocaine based spray, and it was only because it was a tattoo in a sensitive area and my skin was really flaring up right before we started shading. My artist wanted to give my skin a little bit of a break so we could definitely finish that day. I don't know how much it even helped because I always find the shading easier than the lining. 

I usually take Tylenol before if I know I'm going into a particularly long and arduous session. Eating well and drinking Gatorade before is a must too. With my latest tattoo, I was able to watch the artist work and that helped a lot. It almost seems like it's not really happening to you in a weird way.

[gtrjunior]

I hadn't thought of taking a pain Med prior to a session.
My only concern with that is that they thin the blood....did you notice more bleeding than usual?

[Colored Guy]

I sat for 3 hours last night, rib area and part of my stomach and towards the side. I doubled up on my prescription pain medication and did very well. A couple of regulars stopped in and we shot the breeze for a while. Keeping busy is a big help.

[Freddie]

Thanks all for the tips!

Well sadly I don't have any prescription meds to pop, tattoo or not haha.
The artist said my session was gonna be 3-4 hours, I'm just going to take aforementioned advice about sleeping, eating, and maintaining sugar levels throughout the session, and work on my poor Russian language skills with him to pass the time during.

Then ill come on here after and have a good bloody moan at how much it hurt.

[Dan]

40 minutes ago, Freddie said:

Thanks all for the tips!

Well sadly I don't have any prescription meds to pop, tattoo or not haha.
The artist said my session was gonna be 3-4 hours, I'm just going to take aforementioned advice about sleeping, eating, and maintaining sugar levels throughout the session, and work on my poor Russian language skills with him to pass the time during.

Then ill come on here after and have a good bloody moan at how much it hurt.

LOL stop obsessing on the pain ! just go get the tattoo,pain is part of the process !  you are building it up way too much in your head and that will negatively affect your experience.

if you are that scared of the pain,don't get the tattoo.

[Freddie]

1 minute ago, Dan said:

LOL stop obsessing on the pain ! just go get the tattoo,pain is part of the process !  you are building it up way too much in your head and that will negatively affect your experience.

if you are that scared of the pain,don't get the tattoo.

Haha, if I was really worried about it I'd just use painkillers, I'm just taking the piss dude :D

I'm actually looking forward to the pain in a twisted way to see how I handle it

[Synesthesia]

On 4/27/2017 at 6:06 PM, gtrjunior said:

I hadn't thought of taking a pain Med prior to a session.
My only concern with that is that they thin the blood....did you notice more bleeding than usual?

Not for me personally, I bleed like crazy all the time. I've had a couple doctors look into me being diagnosed with hemophilia but I guess it isn't bad enough to be considered that lol. I think acetaminophen (Tylenol) doesn't thin the blood like ibuprofen does so it shouldn't even really be a concern.

[bongsau]

If it's your first tattoo, don't use the numbing cream. 

Rib tattoo is intense, but being your first you won't know any differently. So take the above advice above about preparing your mind and body for the tattoo and you will be fine! If you really are a bit anxious, have a shot or two of liquor to calm your nerves and take it like a champ.

Numbing cream is becoming more popular and accessible these days. I'm talking about the high concentration shit that makes you feel nothing, not a light bactine spray or some booze to take the edge off and get you through the hump.

People want the tattoo but they don't want to work for it. I don't agree with that because part of the spiritual power of the tattoo comes from earning it, a rite of passage. I do think it has its place for some of the very challenging spots to keep both you and the tattooers momentum going on a big tattoo session.

Also, FYI if a strong concentration of topical anesthetic cream is applied incorrectly i.e. left on for too long, too much on the body it can be absorbed into the bloodstream and toxic to your system. You risk a trip to the hospital for health complications. I've heard several stories like this where too much is used and next thing the session is cut short and buddy's in a taxi to the hospital cause his vision suddenly went blurry or the heart starts beating irregularly. 

Tattooing isn't supposed to be a sunny time on the beach, it is raw and unapologetic and to many of us that is what the beauty and attraction of what a tattoo is. My $0.02

[bongsau]

My big rib tattoo was one of my first. I will never forget that single tear that rolled down my cheek. And I felt like a god damn warrior when it was over. 

I've tried other non-traditional numbing methods like drinking half a bottle of nyquil, weed, tylenol. The best tried and true method is a good rest, a good meal and a strong mindset. You got it champ, good luck!

Edited May 2, 2017 by bongsau

[bongsau]

http://www.needlesandsins.com/2010/12/guest-blog-cheating-with-lidocaine.html

Old article about lidocaine, good info, the comments are good too.

[Hogrider]

18 hours ago, bongsau said:

http://www.needlesandsins.com/2010/12/guest-blog-cheating-with-lidocaine.html

Old article about lidocaine, good info, the comments are good too.

One tattoo artist's opinion, although certainly a revered artist. Using numbing cream is like buying the Son's of Anarchy vest and going around pretending you're a bad ass; well, maybe not THAT bad.

Clearly I'm an old fart, but I get sick of everybody wanting everything to be easy. It's one of the reasons we're raising a generation of pussies; nobody wants to earn anything.

I guess I'm more of a Jack Rudy "It's a good thing tattoos hurt" kind of guy - http://www.ocweekly.com/news/jack-rudy-on-tattoos-stigma-and-why-its-good-they-hurt-6459877.

 

 

[Gingerninja]

I know a guy that did 17 hours over two days. He used numbing cream for the last four hours on the second day. I'm totally okay with that situation...

[gtrjunior]

I know a guy that did 17 hours over two days. He used numbing cream for the last four hours on the second day. I'm totally okay with that situation...

Wow 17 hrs...that guy is a trooper! I know my artist has the numbing cream because we talked about it but I haven't felt the need for it. I've done about 5 hours in one sitting and even though there were some sensitive areas (elbow, inner bicep) I haven't felt like I just couldn't take it.

In a sadistic kind of way I sort of like the pain. Lol

[Freddie]

Interesting and insightful, thanks again everyone!
Tomorrow is the big day so I'm off to get my 9 hours, got some juice to keep my sugars up, few biscuits if i get peckish aswell :D
Then a few beers when i get home!
Pictures to follow!

[dangerdan]

To me it just feels like someone rubbing a sunburn.

But the longest I've ever gone was about 2 hours. Enough to get annoying, but it tends to kind of numb itself after awhile.

[AtomicMagpye]

i wouldn't bother with numbing cream myself.  

It's your first tattoo - people react in different ways - you might find it not bad at all -

Ribs can be... trying, but if its not an entire rib piece I wouldn't be overly concerned about it... 

Never had an "unbearably" painful tattoo... not so far anyhow... :-)

 

[Freddie]

Forgot to update this- 

Well, yeah I don't have any tattoo reference points as it was my first tattoo, but he started on my ribs, worked up into my armpit, then outlined across my collar bone, and on my nipple. This was all Excruciatingly painful.
I once crushed my finger off in an industrial guillotine, I would do this again on all 5 fingers and it wouldn't feel as painful at that. I'm not being pussy about it, i'm just stating how much it hurt for me, in all honesty. Someone mentioned rubbing sunburn? Maybe if Edward F***ing scissorhands was doing the rubbing, I dunno... anyway.
After about 2.5 hours, the artist tells me its taking longer than he expected, hes moving slower because he can tell it hurts, I'm lying there still and quiet, but i think if i tensed my other bicep any harder it would have popped, so he actually told me to take the cream because if he didn't finish today, I would be leaving the country and I wouldn't be able to come back for another session to finish.
So I got experience with and without.
Once the cream went on it wasn't just less painful, it was nothing, literally nothing, I swear if it wasn't for the vibrations i could feel in my bones or the buzzing I wouldn't know I was getting tattooed. So at this point he doubles his pace and I can feel how much faster the lines are going down. He said it would take 3-4 hours, it took a little under 5 in the end.
Notes -
When I could watch him tattooing it hurt less than staring at the ceiling.
The perfect way to describe how it felt was slowly pulling a stanley blade across yourself like our a surgeon making an incision. I've slipped a few times with my stanley lol only difference is as soon as he lifts off the pain stops immediately.

I dunno, I felt like a massive pussy taking the cream but I needed to finish up, my next one i'll still go in for with no cream.

So there is my embarrassing, but genuinely honest experience. (better that just the BS 'It barley hurt I was fine' lie haha)

[Gingerninja]

I dunno, I felt like a massive pussy taking the cream but I needed to finish up, my next one i'll still go in for with no cream. Um, generally pussies are one of the toughest things I the world. They squeeze out giant, living beings. Just sayin. @Freddie (And yes, ribs suck but you did it!)

 

[Freddie]

7 minutes ago, Gingerninja said:

Um, generally pussies are one of the toughest things I the world. They squeeze out giant, living beings. Just sayin. @Freddie (And yes, ribs suck but you did it!)

 

Cant argue with that  

[cfmartin67]

On 5/2/2017 at 0:32 PM, Hogrider said:

One tattoo artist's opinion, although certainly a revered artist. Using numbing cream is like buying the Son's of Anarchy vest and going around pretending you're a bad ass; well, maybe not THAT bad.

Clearly I'm an old fart, but I get sick of everybody wanting everything to be easy. It's one of the reasons we're raising a generation of pussies; nobody wants to earn anything.

I guess I'm more of a Jack Rudy "It's a good thing tattoos hurt" kind of guy - http://www.ocweekly.com/news/jack-rudy-on-tattoos-stigma-and-why-its-good-they-hurt-6459877.

 

 

I was just going to quote Jack Rudy! I've been getting tattooed for 34 years, 160 times and probably 300 hours and I've never taken anything. Yes they hurt, but then again, they're supposed to.